


lilac wine (is sweet and heady)

by nausicaa_of_phaeacia



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Christmas fic, Drinking, F/M, Fluff, Season/Series 04, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 13:24:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9273704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nausicaa_of_phaeacia/pseuds/nausicaa_of_phaeacia
Summary: Christmas time. Salzburg. Mulled wine.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Christmas fluff. Don't ask. :)  
> Hope you like it!

It's been a weird day. They've just (well, more or less) finished an urgent mission in the middle of nowhere (nowhere meaning a small town close to Salzburg, Austria), surrounded by a textbook snow landscape, with a textbook lack of infrastructure. Mace had suddenly called them in because S.H.I.E.L.D. had just received valuable information concerning a very elusive Watchdog member who had apparently constructed some sort of underground network in Austria and Switzerland.

Daisy can't say she regrets coming here, even though it's still, technically, Christmas time, and they're supposed to be on holidays. It's a really pretty and very quiet place and she somehow can't help wishing they could stay a little longer (they're supposed to leave the next day).

Coulson and her have been taking a stroll through the town, just to wind down, and ended up on the main square. Everything is decorated with all kinds of stars and lights and while it might be a little too much, Daisy thinks it's beautiful. And it's not what she's used to see, not really (she's been avoiding Christmas these past few years). 

There are countless little stands lined up on the square, selling sweets and hand-made things like soap or Christmas decorations or good luck charms for the New Year. Children are running around, basically ignoring the cold weather, throwing snowballs at each other and, carefully, also at their parents. A very freezing-sounding brass quartet is playing some local Christmas songs.

They've sort of reached the other end of the square, and Coulson, who has offered her his arm, seems to be trying to decide where to go next. He's probably thinking of going to a café or a bar or something, but there's not much around (and most places are closed today, anyway).  
"We could try the mulled wine," she suggests, a little shyly.  
It makes him smile as he turns to look at her, obviously happy that she wants to stay. "Yeah? Sure, if you'd like to. I think I saw them sell some just over there."  
She smiles back, and even though she'd suggested the wine in order to warm up a little, Coulson looking at her like this makes her feel pretty warm already.

Coulson's German is pretty rudimentary, but they manage to find out that they sell three kinds of drinks at the stand: children's punch (hot fruit tea with a little orange juice and cinnamon, basically), mulled wine, and another alcoholic drink they're calling the emperor's punch, Daisy understands as much – it seems to be mulled wine with a shot of something stronger in it, probably rum. 

She orders a mulled wine, and Coulson, who is more curious, chooses the punch. Both drinks are served in really cute deposit mugs with festive ornaments on them, and they go to stand at one of the tall tables placed in a half-circle around the stand. Obviously, they are both wearing gloves, but holding the warm mug while you're waiting for the drink to cool down a little feels great. Coulson is smiling like a little kid, and the thought that this is possibly everything he ever wanted from Christmas breaks her heart a little, so she smiles back the best she can.

A few sips in, Daisy can feel the tip of her nose defrost, the same goes for her fingertips and toes. Coulson seems to feel it too, because his cheeks have gone a little red, probably a combination of the cold and the alcohol.  
"What's it like? Your drink?"  
"It tastes pretty much like mulled wine. It's probably a little stronger."  
"You like it?" She sounds almost worried, like him not liking the punch could mean he's not enjoying himself.  
"No, it's great," he says, and the way he looks at her almost makes her think he doesn't just mean the drink.

Daisy's not finished yet (her mulled wine is really hot) when Coulson goes to buy a refill.  
"Can I taste it?," she asks, because she's curious, too.  
"Sure. Be careful, don't burn your lips," he adds as he hands her the mug.  
She takes a sip. "It's nice. A little different from mine."  
"You want one too?"  
"No, thanks. I'm going to stick to the mulled wine. Less cloves," she smiles.

He looks at her and it's an internal fight not to keep looking at her. Not permanently, at least. She looks so ... happy, the colourful gloves Elena had insisted on giving her making her hands around the mug look really cute, her cheeks a little flushed. Daisy's currently blowing into her drink to make it cool down a little faster, very carefully, and she looks so enormously satisfied with everything that it stings.  
It could have been so easy to make her happy.  
It's not really that he didn't know that, he thinks he's been trying to do just that with quite a few small things, but this is different. This is Christmas, and it was visibly uncomfortable for her every year, at least a little (at least to an extent that Coulson could see it, that is).

"What?" She catches him looking at her, smiles at him a little self-consciously.  
"Nothing. This is nice."  
Her smile grows. "It _is_ nice."  
For a moment, he needs to hold on to the table, discreetly, of course. Naturally, it could be the rum in his drink, but he's pretty sure her smile is an equally probable cause. She doesn't seem to notice.

They're a little warmer now (Daisy isn't doing this thing with her feet anymore where she's shifting her weight to one side until she can feel the cold ground too much and then shifts to the other side), and they're exchanging Christmas stories and talking about travelling. Coulson goes to get them another round, and he doesn't know it, but she watches him as he walks to the stand and orders. She almost feels guilty for not having done this sort of thing with Coulson in the past. Okay, she has done it, they've been getting coffee and eating fast food and sharing sweets and whatnot, but this is different. This looks like Coulson couldn't be more happy than he is now, freezing his ass off somewhere near Salzburg, drinking Christmas drinks with her.  
This is easy. This, she can do. Anytime.

She's still smiling when he returns with their drinks.  
"You're smiling."  
She almost stops, but then decides to just keep doing it. "I like this," she says.  
"The drink? Yeah, Austrian mulled wine is quite something. Maria once recommended it to me, she was talking about Upper Austria, though –"  
"No, I mean - _this_."  
He's not actually smiling, but it's there in the corner of his lips, and he might be blushing, but it might just be that his cheeks are getting redder with the cold and the wine.  
It feels like it takes him forever to answer, like he almost doesn't dare to say it. "Me too."

As it's getting colder, Daisy is sneaking up to him little by little. He pretends not to notice, even though he knows she knows that he knows, but he doesn't mind. On the contrary. And maybe it actually does help against the cold. When she's talking, it almost feels like she's half-whispering things into his ear becasue they're standing so close. He tells himself it's the alcohol, that she's only approaching his closest area of personal space because she's loosened up a little, that it's not something he should be thinking about. But it's, of course, the only thing he's thinking about.

People have started leaving, and the square is getting emptier. After a while, they approach the stand with their drinks – it's still a little bit warmer there, at least they're protected from the wind. Daisy's still got about half of her drink when Coulson orders another emperor's punch, and she thinks they're probably drunk, but it feels wonderful. Coulson's nose looks like he's had a little bit too much to drink, but his cheeks look like he couldn't be happier. He reminds her of a small child, and as he turns back to her after ordering, she sees his eyes shine, and yes, small child on Christmas. Also, yes, drunk, because his smile goes directly to places she shouldn't feel warm right now.

They end up being the only customers left, and the owner of the stand gives them one round for free, and afterwards, two shots of something that smells like eggnog but looks far too transparent. They're told they should drink it because they look half-frozen. It makes Daisy giggle, because she can see a little bit of Coulson's earlobes under his woolly hat, and they're very red. They raise their shots for a small cheer, then down them. She needs to shake her head after that, but it doesn't even feel that bad. At least she's thoroughly warm somewhere on the inside now, she can't quite locate it. 

As they're walking back to their safehouse through the dimly-lit streets, Coulson takes her hand like it's perfectly normal, and she's actually grateful because the sidewalk is a little slippery. When they turn around a corner, the alcohol hits Coulson a little and he almost hugs a historic-looking lantern, and Daisy manages to pull him into her direction in the last moment.  
"Coulson, no. You're too young to die," she jokes, and starts to giggle right away. "Don't you dare leave me."  
They're still trying to find their balance as Daisy's tugging at his coat in order not to fall down herself when he replies – and it just slips out – "Can't leave you, I love you."

It just happens, and before he can look like he regrets saying it, they're both sitting in the snow piled up next to the lantern. Daisy looks a little confused, but only for a moment, and her reply is almost automatic, and very lighthearted. "Love you too."  
He stands up, pulling her up with him, and as she's standing there, in front of him, looking as happy as ever, and magically, not at all bothered by what just happened, he decides to pull her in and kiss her. 

Daisy's surprised, and she's also surprised that his lips are so hot since it's still freezing cold, but she kisses him back, and he's surprised that she does. It's a little sloppy, and they both taste a little like hazelnut from the shot, but it's perfect, she'll take it. Before he's got the time to think about it (and admittedly, he doesn't want to think about this too much, because that would remind him how unprofessional it is to kiss Daisy, and that he's an idiot), she's making out with him in the middle of the street, and suddenly, everything becomes urgent and intense and important and almost too much, but just almost, because this is the best thing that's ever happened. This and her radiant smile as she pulls him into the entrance of the house.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading :) Tell me what you think!
> 
> The title's from the song _Lilac Wine_ , written by James Shelton.


End file.
